The Queen Is Celebrating Her Diamond Jubilee with Portraits, a Concert and More!

-Lucia Peters

Guess what? As of yesterday, Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne for a whopping sixty years. That’s quite an achievement. Congrats, Queen Elizabeth! (Is that something one can really say to the Queen? I hope so. Because sixty years of success is worth congratulating.)

Naturally, this means that she’s celebrating in grand fashion. It is her Diamond Jubilee anniversary, after all. The Queen had some lovely words to mark the occasion; according to People, she stated that she has seen “great advances” since she took the throne after her father George VI (also known as Bertie, and played by Colin Firth in The King’s Speech) passed away on February 6, 1952. She also said that she is looking forward to the future with a “clear head and warm heart.” She finished up with the following: “I hope that we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighborliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign.”

Classy indeed!

The Queen, who is 85 years old (and one of our favorite role models for aging gracefully), released a special set of portraits in honor of the event. Taken by John Swannell in the Centre Room at Buckingham Palace this past December, the portraits depict Elizabeth on her own and with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. Take a peek here:

And because concerts are such a wonderful way to mark these epic moments in history, the Queen is, of course, having a Diamond Jubilee Concert this summer, as well. So who’s singing for the Queen? So far, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Annie Lenox, Jessie J, and Ed Sheeran are all on the list. Gary Barlow, formerly of boy band Take That, is organizing the concert, and according to him, both Prince William and Prince Harry have requested a couple of as-yet-unnamed artists. More names will be revealed over the coming weeks, and it’s rumored that Adele will be among them. Ooooo.

The concert will take place on a special stage based around the Queen Victoria Memorial outside the gates of Buckingham Palace on June 4, and ABC will air highlights of it on June 5.

Want to go? You totally can, because 10,000 tickets will be given to the public! The good news is that the tickets are free; the bad news, though, is that they’ll be given out by a ballot. You can apply for tickets at the official Diamond Jubilee website.